Apropos of his screen name, let's critically ask the question, what shall we ask bob, i.e. what will we be asking, expecting, and hoping from him as president, should he unfortunately win the election? After all, unless you consider the office he's running for to be somewhat of a figurehead position, which it isn't, or you're an infrequent and apathetic patron of the site, you should be thinking quite seriously in terms of what he's really likely to bring to his tenure as el president, what his regime may possible spell for the site, and for those habitués of the site who don't share ole bob's personal point of view.

So, what's the first thing that we might ask and wish of bob? Perhaps competence is the first thing that springs to mind. Competence, after all, is the most basic quality that one would want of anyone in any job. But then the question becomes what all and exactly does competence entail in the context of being president of DDO? Isn't it more than just a matter of being efficient and committed? I'll speak to whether or not we can count on askbob to be either of these things shortly, but before I get to that, let's go a little deeper and ask what are the personal values and characterological qualifications that we'll be implicitly insisting on from our new prez?

First of all, there's maturity, psychological, intellectual, and ethical maturity. Assuming that we're all in our right minds, we certainly wish to elect someone who will be able to respond to our issues and difficulties, to our complaints and requests for help, and to any problems and adversities that may arise for the site, with a good degree of grown-upness, not someone who may react with all the underwhelming effectiveness and empathy of a jerky juvenile, or a mean-spirited man child. Let me be even more unsubtle here, with askbob I sincerely fear that we'll be getting a sophomoric individual who's still in an extended adolescence, i.e. a half-grown fellow who will at best be able to manage a half-cocked, half-baked, and half-as*ed responsiveness to our needs, and to any challenges that may come to face the site.

Askbob has certainly amply exhibited a lack of adult maturity in how he interacts and deals with those whose point of view and self-expression he finds annoying, I offer my own case in point. I won't go into any detail here about my own ax to grind with bob, suffice it to say that once upon a time, a few months ago, he crossed a line of forum good conduct by obtaining my home phone number and perpetrating a malicious prank call designed to discourage my continued participation at the site. Why did he take such an action? Oh, I'm sure that he has his defenses and rationalizations, but what it boils down to is that his lack of maturity allowed him to act on his biased dislike for my philosophical viewpoint and personal style in a childish and petty manner. He demonstrated that he doesn't yet possess the mental and emotional development or "right stuff" to refrain from indulging his naughty kiddish impulses.

Mm-hmm, in this way he's somewhat reminiscent of an Anthony Wiener, who's really not a pervert, just an overgrown teenage boy who hasn't matured beyond puerile self-indulgence. Likeswise, askbob hasn't really matured beyond his own form of youthful dic*ishness, nor has he evolved beyond punkish petulance. So, the first question to ask is, do we really wish to elect our own version of a Wiener, someone who won't handle his role with the respect and gravity of a grownup?

Secondly, there's the related question of judgment. Can someone in an executive position who lacks sufficient maturity be realistically expected to have and practice good and wise judgment in the resolution of those matters that come before him? Can you really be confident that someone of bob's low level of maturity will be able to find within himself the quality and quantity of Solomonic judgment that should be commensurate with the responsibility he's seeking to take on? Alas, the sort of sober-minded and high-minded discretion that we would all hope for comes from a place of inner growth that for bob remains a largely undiscovered country. Let him explore his personal growth into mature adulthood and perhaps then we might be able to fully trust in his worthiness for office.

Thirdly, we might ask if bob will be sufficiently capable of being evenhanded and equitable in how he deals with those of us whose opinions don't square with his ideology. For you see, dear bob is an ideologue, someone who identifies strongly and staunchly with a particular point of view to the extent that he can be narrow-souled, intolerant, disrespectful, and downright contemptuous to those of a different and opposite point of view. Empowering someone so partisan with any form or amount of authority is an inherently risky proposition. Will he suddenly, upon being elected, somehow summon up the impartiality, restraint, reasonableness, and empathy he's heretofore failed to show his ideological adversaries? That is, will he represent all of the people at this site, or only his fellow libertarians? Will he be above hypocritically violating his professed right-libertarian principles to enforce the dominance of his philosophical faction?

This, by the way, should be a concern for his fellow libertarians, every bit as much as it is for the rest of us. This is because most libertarians are quite sincere about their belief in the value of freedom; personally, I think that their concept of freedom is profoundly faulty on many levels, and dangerously doctrinaire, but I don't question the authenticity of the conviction with which they hold to their philosophy. Bob, on the other hand, is an exception, I do in fact question whether he will be capable of living up to the label "libertarian", I do question whether he will do his ideological comrades proud. And I think that his ideological comrades, the other libertarians at the site, should seriously question this as well. Do you really wish to elect someone such as bob, whose behavior may very well not reflect your own sincerity about your principles?

Well, if bob gets elected and conducts himself more like a fascist than a genuine libertarian, if he creates an environment that's not at all in keeping with the spirit of your fundamental political precepts, you-all, the libertarians here, will in a sense be the biggest losers, for you will have allowed him to make a mockery and a lie of libertarianism, and his "administration" may leave some of the younger non-libertarian visitors to the site with a negative impression of your philosophy that will remain with them for life.

Yes, if you're a libertarian you definitely should be asking yourselves these questions, and you should reflect on how bob quite possibly might tarnish the image of libertarianism at good ole DDO. And all of us, libertarians and non-libertarians alike, should be wondering just what kind of an environment he's really likely to promote here. Do you think it's realistically likely to be an open and inclusive spirit that reigns under his presidency? Is this the kind of tone that his personality is likely to set? Will he invite diversity and endorse intellectual disagreement, or will he promote (perhaps even unconsciously) a conformity that will make the site a less interesting place to spend time?

Come on now, many of you have had some experience with his personality, you've seen the writing on the walls of his one-sided and mean mind, and that writing says "Those who disagree with my point of view keep out". What we all need to ask ourselves, then, is do we wish to put him in a position to implement this attitude, well, do we?

The conclusion is located directly below

Yo, all of my subliterate conservative criticasters who find perusing and processing the sesquipedalian verbiage of my posts to be such a bothersome brain-taxing chore, I have a new nickname for you. Henceforth you shall be known as Pooh Bears. No, not for the obvious apt reasons, i.e., not because you're full of pooh, and not because of your ursine irritability. Rather, you put me in mind of an A.A. Milne quote, "I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me". Love ya, Pooh Bears.

To conclude, I said that I'd touch on the question of his competence, commitment, and efficiency again. Competence, as I've covered, entails such qualities as good judgment and tolerance, departments in which his qualification for office are quite questionable. As for commitment to the principles he purports to adhere to, there may be some real commitment there, but, again, does he have the maturity and character for the follow-through we'd hope for? And although he may be committed to doing a good job, does he really understand what all that means, that it would mean promoting fairness, tolerance, and diversity? Is he psychologically capable of doing a good job in this more morally demanding sense? And as for efficiency, well, what good is efficiency if he's only efficient at undermining the site's philosophically and politically pluralistic character and core mission of providing people with a forum on which they can freely, strongly, and even stubbornly dispute each other's views?

I urge each of you yet to vote to ask yourselves all of these questions before doing so, and to cast a thoughtful ballot based upon the answers that you find in your own hearts and minds. Yes, I'm posting this at the last minute before the election closes to remind you all of the above doubts and concerns as you vote – and, so that in the eventuality that askbob manages to win, he knows that he doesn't have a mandate to be his old ungracious, biased, pugnaciously pubescent self, that we'll all be closely watching his performance with a slew of questions on our minds. And that if we don't like the way the answers are going, who knows, perhaps we might even impeach and recall him. Yes, if you are elected, askbob, remember that you're not being elected the site's imperial high commander for life, and your term could even be abbreviated by a popular uprising like those we're currently seeing in certain parts of the world. Mm-hmm, be on notice askbob, be very much on notice.

Yo, all of my subliterate conservative criticasters who find perusing and processing the sesquipedalian verbiage of my posts to be such a bothersome brain-taxing chore, I have a new nickname for you. Henceforth you shall be known as Pooh Bears. No, not for the obvious apt reasons, i.e., not because you're full of pooh, and not because of your ursine irritability. Rather, you put me in mind of an A.A. Milne quote, "I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me". Love ya, Pooh Bears.

A couple of typo corrections. The underlined words in the sentence below are typos.

After all, unless you consider the office he's running for to be somewhat of a figurehead position, which it isn't, or you're an infrequent and apathetic patron of the site, you should be thinking quite seriously in terms of what he's really likely to bring to his tenure as el president, what his regime may possible spell for the site, and for those habitués of the site who don't share ole bob's personal point of view.

"el president" should of course be el presidente, and "possible" should be possibly.

Btw, there are a couple of other typos that aren't quite as glaring, but I don't wish to be anal about pointing all of them out. It would certainly be nice though if the new president, whichever candidate that turns out to be, were to adjust the design of the site so that one could edit his/her post and correct embarrassing sloppy human errors.

Yo, all of my subliterate conservative criticasters who find perusing and processing the sesquipedalian verbiage of my posts to be such a bothersome brain-taxing chore, I have a new nickname for you. Henceforth you shall be known as Pooh Bears. No, not for the obvious apt reasons, i.e., not because you're full of pooh, and not because of your ursine irritability. Rather, you put me in mind of an A.A. Milne quote, "I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me". Love ya, Pooh Bears.

Yes, charleslb can run on the platform of overthrowing the DDO owners, and rendering this website owned by the people.

That was my idea. I asked everyone to pay an equal share so we could buy the site when it was for sale and hire our own programmers. Nobody went for that.

I AM THE CHOSEN ONE
I AM THE GRAND POOBAH OF DDO
I AM THE BOOGIE MAN
I AM THE REAL LIFE SANTA CLAUSE
I AM THE PARADOXICAL ZEBRA PRANCING THROUGH THE GRASSY PLANES YOUR COGNITIVE EXPERIENCE
I AM THE REINCARNATION OF THE DEAD DREAMS OF HUMANITY
I AM THE DISH WHO RAN AWAY WITH THE SPOON
I am your friend.

Yes, charleslb can run on the platform of overthrowing the DDO owners, and rendering this website owned by the people.

That was my idea. I asked everyone to pay an equal share so we could buy the site when it was for sale and hire our own programmers. Nobody went for that.

I would buy up all the shares so I'd own 97%. And then ban all non conservatives.

No, you buy 51%, then say that we vote with shares on the rules (as a normal company works). With your majority shareholds, you appoint yourself Admin and make all the rules, namely "if someone is banned, all their shares are forfeited and transferred to the standing admin."

Then you start banning people and claiming their shares. Eventually, almost all the old (except those that you like) have gone, and have been replaced by new members that are not aware of what recently took place. The new members, of course, have no shares, and you'll have around 95%+ when you only paid for 51%.

At this point, you then start to build the site up, collecting minor advertising revenue to keep the site up and running, increase the value of the site, then sell!

Yes, charleslb can run on the platform of overthrowing the DDO owners, and rendering this website owned by the people.

That was my idea. I asked everyone to pay an equal share so we could buy the site when it was for sale and hire our own programmers. Nobody went for that.

I would buy up all the shares so I'd own 97%. And then ban all non conservatives.

Love you too, buddy.

"And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." Jesus in Luke 11:9-10

Yo, all of my subliterate conservative criticasters who find perusing and processing the sesquipedalian verbiage of my posts to be such a bothersome brain-taxing chore, I have a new nickname for you. Henceforth you shall be known as Pooh Bears. No, not for the obvious apt reasons, i.e., not because you're full of pooh, and not because of your ursine irritability. Rather, you put me in mind of an A.A. Milne quote, "I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words bother me". Love ya, Pooh Bears.

Minister Of Trolling
: At 12/6/2011 2:21:41 PM, badger wrote:
: ugly people should beat beautiful people ugly. simple! you'd be killing two birds with the one stone... women like violent men and you're making yourself more attractive, relatively. i met a blonde dude who was prettier than me not so long ago. he's not so pretty now! ha!
:
: ...and well, he wasn't really prettier than me. he just had nice hair.